NBA Preview: Atlanta Hawks’ starters will try to replicate what their reserves accomplished two days ago at Cleveland.
Cleveland Cavaliers (51-28) at Atlanta Hawks (41-38), 3:30 p.m. EST
Estimated Line: Cavs -2.5. Estimated Total 210.5.
The Atlanta Hawks were no lock to make the playoffs when they took the court at Philips Arena on April 6 against the Celtics. The Hawks were 39-38 and the #6 seed in the Eastern Conference. They had a slim 1.5-game lead over the #7 through #9 seeds, who were all tied at 38-40.
Atlanta had a home-and-home series starting the next day with Cleveland. Furthermore, the Hawks had a back-to-back against Charlotte and Indiana to close the season. There was an outside chance the Hawks final game at Indiana would be for the final playoff berth.
Boy have things changed dramatically in just three days.
The Hawks defeated the #2 seeded Celtics 123-116 on Thursday. The Celtics came out flat due to their 114-91 loss in the big showdown with Cleveland the night before.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer elected to sit four starters when they traveled to Cleveland the following night. A fully-loaded and rested Cavaliers squad, favored by 15.5 points, laid an egg. The Hawks reserves came out and took it to the Cavs with a shocking 114-100 win.
Cleveland erased a double-digit second quarter deficit to take a 67-58 lead with 6:54 left in the third quarter. The Cavs still led 87-85 with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter. However, a 19-2 run by the Hawks put the game away as Atlanta grew their lead to 20 points with under two minutes to go in the game.
So the Hawks defeat the top two seeds in the East on back-to-back nights in convincing fashion. Atlanta was now one win away from clinching a playoff berth, unless they got some help on Saturday.
The Hawks got some help. Three days full of surprises ended with the Brooklyn Nets defeating the Chicago Bulls 107-106.
The Nets are the worst team in the league and it did not matter.
Dwayne Wade, thought to be out for the season, returned early from his elbow injury to play Saturday for the Bulls. It did not matter.
Chicago led 97-88 with 4:23 left in the game and it did not matter.
The Bulls’ loss to the Nets clinched a playoff berth for the Hawks. So the unfathomable notion that the Hawks could clinch a playoff berth as early as Saturday when they took the court Thursday night against the Celtics came to fruition.
There is no line posted for Sunday afternoon’s Hawks’ game yet. The linemakers are waiting to see if either coach is going to rest players. Cleveland is on the front-end of a back-to-back, but LeBron James has already declared that the Cavs are not resting anyone until they clinch the #1 seed. It is also unlikely that Coach Budenholzer will sit any starters for a second consecutive game.
The Cavaliers were embarrassed after getting throttled at home by Atlanta’s reserves on Friday. Cleveland Coach Tyronn Lue did not have anything good to say after the game. Lue said that his players did not respect Atlanta’s reserves and letting them hang around for three-plus quarters gave them confidence. LeBron added that the Cavs’ energy was low throughout the game.
Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Hawks with 22 points while Mike Dunleavy came off the bench to score 20 for Atlanta. Dunleavy came over to the Hawks from Cleveland for Kyle Korver at the trade deadline. James had 27 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, but he did not get a lot of help from his friends.
This is a nice bounce-back spot for the Cavaliers and they will have a low Vegas number to get over. Cleveland’s magic number is 2, which means they need to win two out of their final three games to clinch the #1 seed if Boston wins out. Therefore, the Cavs cannot coast into the playoffs if they plan to hold on to the #1 seed.
The Celtics have Brooklyn and Milwaukee left on their schedule. The Cavs have Miami and Toronto remaining on their slate. The Heat are fighting for their playoff lives and the Raptors want to hang on to the #3 seed. The Cavaliers have the motivational edge to win this game.
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